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Secret Service ‘Aware’ of Actor’s ‘Death’ Threat Against President Trump

By Daily Caller. The United States Secret Service is “aware” of an Instagram post from comedian George Lopez that many perceived as a threat on President Donald Trump’s life.

“The Secret Service is aware of the [post] made by Mr. Lopez,” a U.S. Secret Service representative told the Daily Caller via a statement. “The Secret Service takes all threats against the President and or any of our protectees seriously, and as a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence.” . . .

“We’ll do it for half,” the comedian wrote, leading many to wonder if the detail in charge of protecting the president was aware of the statement. (Read more from “Secret Service ‘Aware’ of Actor’s ‘Death’ Threat Against President Trump” HERE)

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Qassem Soleimani Eulogist Offers $80 Million Bounty for Donald Trump’s Head During Iranian General’s Funeral

By Newsweek. A eulogist speaking during funeral events for assassinated Iranian general Qassem Soleimani has called for a multi-million dollar bounty on President Donald Trump as mourning continues for the slain Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander.

Huge crowds packed the streets of Tehran on Monday as the regime held a funeral service for Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad on Friday. He was the commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force, and oversaw Iran’s foreign military strategy and covert operations.

His funeral procession travelled through various cities and sites in Iraq and Iran on its way to Tehran. In the eastern Iranian city of Mashhad, enormous crowds attended the event, which was broadcast live on Iran’s state-owned Channel One TV station.

At one point, an unidentified eulogist called for a bounty to be placed on Trump’s head. “We are 80 million Iranians,” he said. “If each one of us puts aside one American dollar, we will have 80 million American dollars, and we will reward anyone who brings us [Trump]’s head with that amount.” (Read more from “Qassem Soleimani Eulogist Offers $80 Million Bounty for Donald Trump’s Head During Iranian General’s Funeral” HERE)

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Flashback: Obama Bombed Countries, Went to War, Used ‘Kill List’ Without Congress

Democrats plan to pass a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives this week declaring that President Donald Trump violated international law with last week’s airstrike against terrorist Iranian General Qasem Suleimani. . .

But few Democrats raised objections when President Barack Obama went to war — often exceeding the boundaries of his legal authority as president. The most notorious case was the Libya War, which President Obama launched in March 2011 without congressional authorization. He continued the war effort beyond the War Powers Resolution’s deadlines because, the administration argued, the U.S. was not engaged in “hostilities” but “leading from behind.”

Some on the left bent over backwards to defend Obama’s unconstitutional war. Former Yale Law School dean Harold Koh was once “one of the country’s foremost defenders of the notion that the president of the United States can’t wage wars without the approval of Congress,” the New York Times noted, but later became “the administration’s defender of the right to stay engaged in a conflict against Libya without Congressional approval.” . . .

Obama later abandoned that plan, but he did bomb Syria during the campaign against the so-called “Islamic State” (or ISIS, which he called “ISIL”). He also dropped “26,171 bombs” on Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan in 2016 alone, according to the Council on Foreign Relations — often for reasons tangentially related to the 9/11-era Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). And in 2012, the Obama White House leaked to the Times that in addition to killing Osama bin Laden, he personally oversaw a terrorist “kill list.” Few protested, other than Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), the former mounting a filibuster to protest the use of drones against U.S. citizens — including in the hypothetical example that they would be used in the United States. (Read more from “Flashback: Obama Bombed Countries, Went to War, Used ‘Kill List’ Without Congress” HERE)

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Iraqi Parliament Calls for Expulsion of Foreign Troops; Trump Warns of Sanctions

By Aljazeera. Iraq’s parliament has passed a resolution calling on the government to expel foreign troops from the country as Iran-US tensions escalate following the killing of a top Iranian military commander and Iraqi armed group leader in a US strike in Baghdad.

In an extraordinary parliamentary session on Sunday, parliament called on the government to end all foreign troop presence in Iraq and to cancel its request for assistance from the US-led coalition which had been working with Baghdad to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

“The government commits to revoke its request for assistance from the international coalition fighting Islamic State due to the end of military operations in Iraq and the achievement of victory,” the resolution read.

“The Iraqi government must work to end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil and prohibit them from using its land, airspace or water for any reason.” (Read more from “Iraqi Parliament Calls for Expulsion of Foreign Troops” HERE)

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Trump Warns of Sanctions If Iraq Tries to Expel U.S. Troops

By AP News. President Donald Trump insists that Iranian cultural sites are fair game for the U.S. military, dismissing concerns within his own administration that doing so could constitute a war crime under international law. He also warned Iraq that he would levy punishing sanctions if it expelled American troops in retaliation for a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad that killed a top Iranian official.

Trump’s comments Sunday came amid escalating tensions in the Middle East following the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds force. Iran has vowed to retaliate and Iraq’s parliament responded by voting Sunday to oust U.S. troops based in the country.

Trump first raised the prospect of targeting Iranian cultural sites Saturday in a tweet. Speaking with reporters Sunday as he flew back to Washington from his holiday stay in Florida, he doubled down, despite international prohibitions. (Read more from “Trump Warns of Sanctions If Iraq Tries to Expel U.S. Troops” HERE)

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Impeachment Witness Says Case Against Trump ‘Collapses Under Weight of Time’

Democrats are demanding Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell call a list of witnesses the Democrats believe will bolster their impeachment case against President Trump. In their rush to impeach the president before the holidays, the Democrats abandoned their legal fight to subpoena the witnesses they once proclaimed were central to building their case. Now Democrats want a do-over in the Senate.

Jonathan Turley, the Republican witness and legal scholar who testified before the House Judiciary Committee during the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry, wrote an op-ed explaining how the Democrats’ weak case against the president is already collapsing as Senate Republicans continue to wait for Speaker Pelosi to transmit articles of impeachment.

(Via The Hill)

As the House and Senate continue their struggle over the coming Senate impeachment trial of President Trump, a federal judge in Washington issued an opinion that was largely lost in the crush of New Year’s stories. The opinion could loom large in the trial, however, and one line in particular may be repeated like a mantra by the Trump defense team: “The House clearly has no intention of pursuing” the witness.

The witness was Charles Kupperman, a deputy to former national security adviser John Bolton. Other than Bolton himself, Kupperman is one of the officials most likely to have direct knowledge of an alleged quid pro quo involving aid to Ukraine. After subpoenaing him in October, the House mysteriously withdrew its subpoena before the court could rule on compelling his testimony. It also decided not to subpoena Bolton and other key witnesses. Judge Richard Leon dismissed the case just before New Year’s Eve with a hint of frustration, if not bewilderment, that the House did not seem interested in hearing from a possible eyewitness. Historically, that lack of interest in not just witnesses but a triable case will remain one of the most baffling blunders of this impeachment.

(Read more from “Impeachment Witness Says Case Against Trump ‘Collapses Under Weight of Time'” HERE)

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Trump: 2020 Democratic Candidates ‘Trying to Punish Religious Believers’ (VIDEO)

President Trump warned members of his evangelical base that every 2020 Democratic presidential candidate poses a threat to their religious liberty.

“Our faith is needed now more than ever,” Trump said during a Friday “Evangelicals for Trump” rally in Miami. “While certain fads come and go, it’s an eternal truth that faith and family lead to the stability, happiness, and prosperity of nations.”

“Yet as we speak,” Trump continued, “every Democrat candidate running for president is trying to punish religious believers and silence our churches and our pastors.” . . .

“Our opponents want to shut out God from the public square so that they can impose their extreme anti-religious and socialist agenda on America,” Trump continued. The New York Times reported that “many supporters outside [the rally] were Cuban émigrés who said their primary concern was what they saw as the threat of socialism. Most said they were lifelong Republicans who were more concerned than ever about the Democratic Party gaining more power, citing fears that they would face more government mandates.”

(Read more from “Trump: 2020 Democratic Candidates ‘Trying to Punish Religious Believers'” HERE)

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‘What the Hell Were You Thinking?’: Trump Berated White House Staff for Not Telling Him Putin Was Trying to Call Him

President Donald Trump berated his former national security adviser Michael Flynn and other senior staff members for holding off on arranging a phone call with the Russian president soon after taking office, according to a new book on the Trump administration’s contentious relationship with the Pentagon.

In “Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos,” the national security reporter Peter Bergen recounted the tenuous conversation between the US president and his staffers, one of many intimate talks whose details were sourced from dozens of interviews with current and former White House officials and military officers.

On January 27, 2017, weeks after winning the presidency, Trump had his first official visit from a foreign leader at the White House, with British Prime Minister Theresa May. During lunch, May asked Trump if he had talked to Putin, according to Bergen. . .

Flynn, a former three-star US Army general, was nearby and leaned in to tell Trump: “Sir, we’re arranging that call now. President Putin called several days ago, but we haven’t been able to get it on your calendar yet.”

“Are you kidding me? Vladimir Putin tried to call me, and you didn’t put him through? What the hell were you thinking?” Trump said. (Read more from “‘What the Hell Were You Thinking?’: Trump Berated White House Staff for Not Telling Him Putin Was Trying to Call Him” HERE)

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Trump Administration Officially Announces Vape Ban

The Trump administration announced Thursday that it will ban most types of flavored e-cigarettes in an attempt to crack down on teenage smoking.

The ban outlaws most flavored vapes such as fruit and mint flavors, but it allows exceptions for certain types of flavors, including tobacco and menthol, according to the Associated Press.

The plan released Thursday by U.S. health officials deviates significantly from what the president said he wanted to do in September when he first floated a vaping ban. . .

A survey released at the end of 2018 showed that over 1.3 million high school students started using tobacco in 2017 and 2018, which some blamed on increased access to vaping products. The vaping epidemic reached a fever pitch earlier this year after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a report claiming that there have been over 450 cases of vaping-related deaths in the U.S. However, opponents of the administration’s ban have pointed to black market THC, a chemical used in Marijuana, as a source behind vaping-related deaths and illnesses. (Read more from “Trump Administration Officially Announces Vape Ban” HERE)

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Trump’s Biggest Wins of 2019; Here’s Who Trump Tied With For Most Admired Man in 2019

By Daily Caller. President Donald Trump’s third year in office is coming to a close after a very eventful 2019.

While impeachment dominated the news headlines over the past several months, the administration also managed many accomplishment throughout the year. To wrap up the year, we’ve created a list of Trump’s biggest wins of 2019. . .

President Trump has managed to reshape the judiciary branch in his image by nominating an unprecedented number of federal judges to the bench. The Senate has confirmed 187 Trump-nominated judges in just under three years. This means 20% of the federal judiciary is now made up of Trump appointments. . .

Trump green-lighted a U.S. Special Forces raid in late October that led to the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS and one of the world’s most-wanted terrorists. Al-Baghdadi was reportedly chased into a dead-end tunnel by a special forces canine, where the ISIS leader is believed to have detonated a suicide vest that killed himself and three children. . .

The U.S. and China are set to sign a “phase one” trade deal next week in early January, the result of pressure from tariffs and negotiations between the two countries. Trump made standing up to China one of the main components of his presidency, promising American farmers that he would work out a better deal for them. The “phase one” deal includes some tariff relief, more Chinese purchases of American agricultural goods, and further protections on intellectual property. (Read more from “Trump’s Biggest Wins of 2019” HERE)

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Obama, Trump Tie as Most Admired Man in 2019

By Gallup. Barack Obama and Donald Trump are tied this year as the most admired man. It is Obama’s 12th time in the top spot versus the first for Trump. Michelle Obama is the most admired woman for the second year in a row.

Each year since 1948, Gallup has asked Americans to name, in an open-ended fashion, which man and woman living anywhere in the world they admire most. This year’s results are based on a Dec. 2-15 poll.

Americans’ choice for most admired man this year is sharply divided along party lines: 41% of Democrats name Obama, while 45% of Republicans choose Trump. Relatively few Democrats choose Trump and relatively few Republicans pick Obama, while independents’ choices are divided about equally between the two men.

After Obama and Trump, no other man was mentioned by more than 2% of respondents. The remainder of the top 10 for men this year includes former President Jimmy Carter, businessman Elon Musk, philanthropist and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Pope Francis, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, California Rep. Adam Schiff, the Dalai Lama, and investor Warren Buffett. (Read more from “Obama, Trump Tie as Most Admired Man in 2019” HERE)

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How Liberals Rewrite the History of the Clinton Impeachment; Hypocrite Schumer Said Senate Was ‘Not A Jury Box’ During Clinton Impeachment Trial

By Daily Signal. The “striking” difference between the Bill Clinton and Donald Trump impeachments, argue MSNBC hosts and others in the media, was not only the willingness of Clinton to “show contrition,” but the willingness of his supporters to acknowledge that the president had done something wrong. . .

In the real world, Clinton, with help from the entire Democratic Party, kept earnestly lying to anyone who would listen—the media, the American people, a grand jury—until physical evidence compelled him to admit what he had done.

His subsequent “contrition,” as impeachment picked up steam, was a matter of political survival. The notion that Trump engaged in “bribery” is debatable. The notion that Clinton perjured himself is not.

If it hadn’t been for the Drudge Report bypassing the institutional media, in fact, Newsweek, still an influential magazine in 1998, would likely have sat on the Monica Lewinsky story until after the Clinton presidency had ended. This was probably the first time that online alternative media exposed corrupt coverage, and it certainly wasn’t the last.

Then again, even after Drudge reported on Lewinsky’s semen-stained blue dress, Clinton still lied about his affair to the country, famously saying, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.” His wife, Hillary, who almost surely knew the truth, told Matt Lauer that a “vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president” was responsible for the charges. Sounds familiar. (Read more from “How Liberals Rewrite the History of the Clinton Impeachment” HERE)

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Hypocrite Schumer Said Senate Was ‘Not a Jury Box’ During Clinton Impeachment Trial

By Townhall. Democrats have been incensed ever since Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that there was “no chance” the president would be removed from office. Speaker Pelosi is even refusing to send the articles of impeachment in a perverse effort to extort some last-minute concessions from Senate Republicans. Democrats just led the most flimsy, partisan impeachment inquiry in U.S. history and are now lecturing Republicans on the importance of impartiality. Even CNN can’t ignore the hypocrisy.

“I was disappointed to hear yesterday that Leader McConnell declared that he would not be an impartial juror when it comes to the serious charges against President Trump,” Chuck Schumer said in a recent Senate speech. “He said it proudly. What kind of example does that set to the country that is looking for fairness and impartiality?”

But in 1999, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer went on Larry King Live and said the exact opposite of everything he is saying now. Schumer defended the right of every Senator to have a “pre-opinion” and explained that the Senate is “not a jury box” because the Senate is “susceptible to the whims of politics” and Senators can be “called and lobbied” by citizens. (Read more from “Hypocrite Schumer Said Senate Was ‘Not a Jury Box’ During Clinton Impeachment Trial” HERE)

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Left Blames Trump for Hanukkah Stabbing Attack in New York

In the 24 hours since a man attacked a Hanukkah celebration in Monsey, New York, the left is blaming Donald Trump for inciting the kind of antisemitism that led to the crime. Grafton Thomas was arrested for stabbing five people and has been charged with multiple counts of attempted murder, but some are targeting Trump. . .

“Some House Democrats singled out the president for criticism, arguing that he has been insufficiently clear in denouncing anti-Semitism and has frequently perpetuated offensive stereotypes about Jewish people.

Earlier this month, Trump prompted an outcry from Jewish groups after he delivered a speech in which he sought to convince a Jewish audience that they had “no choice” but to vote for him or else they would lose money to Democratic presidential contenders’ wealth tax plans. He also said some Jews “don’t love Israel enough,” echoing a previous statement in which he questioned the loyalty of Jews who vote for Democrats.

The article named one Democrat who blamed Trump directly: Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), another frequent critic of Trump, shared a tweet by a New York-based comedian who argued that the Monsey attack followed “3 years of anti-semitism from the Trump Administration.”

“So sad but predictable. His conduct has made unacceptable conduct acceptable,” Cohen said, appearing to blame Trump in part for the recent rise in attacks against Jewish people and members of other minority groups across the country. “It will take decades to cure.”

(Read more from “Left Blames Trump for Hanukkah Stabbing Attack in New York” HERE)

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